Federal Agency To Move HQ To Utah, Shutter Regional Offices
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service is uprooting its headquarters from Washington, D.C., and moving to Salt Lake City, relocating a majority of its workforce and closing all of its regional offices in the process.
The sweeping changes are aimed at moving leadership "closer to the forests and communities it serves," the agency said in a release. The Forest Service chief will set up shop in Utah, as will many of the service's employees from the nation's capital.
Two-thirds of the National Capital Region positions will relocate away from D.C., with some moving to Salt Lake City and others to the department's various operations service centers, according to a department fact sheet on the realignment.
The other third of the D.C. positions, including the associate chief, will remain at the Sidney R. Yates Federal Building, the agency's current headquarters.
Agency leadership informed employees that roughly 260 positions would be moved, The Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources.
"Effective stewardship and active management are achieved on the ground, where forests and communities are found — not just behind a desk in the capital," Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a statement.
The General Services Administration didn't respond to a request for comment on additional plans for the Yates Building following the move. The historic building at 201 14th St. SW is nearly 150 years old and was last renovated in 2015.
As part of the reorganization, the Forest Service is transitioning away from a regional model to a state-based structure to streamline its chain of command. The agency plans to place 15 state directors throughout the country to oversee operations in one or more states.
The Forest Service will close all regional offices and shift functions to a national network of operations service centers that it plans to establish in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Athens, Georgia; Fort Collins, Colorado; Madison, Wisconsin; Missoula, Montana; and Placerville, California.
The agency also plans to consolidate its research stations into a single national research and development organization in Fort Collins, Colorado, closing R&D facilities in 31 states.
This isn't the first time the Trump administration has relocated a federal agency far from Washington.
During his first term, President Donald Trump relocated a majority of Bureau of Land Management employees from D.C. to Grand Junction, Colorado, a move that caused 90% of workers to leave the agency, The Washington Post reported. The Biden administration later moved the BLM back to D.C.
"Relocating and realigning allows the agency to protect our land and most precious resources," Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden said in a release. "This relocation is long overdue."
